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Saturday

Mar 9, 2013 at 11:30 AM

A weekly report on happenings in Missouri’s state government.

Jason Hunsicker/@JHunsicker_KDE

A weekly report on happenings in Missouri’s state government. Aside from noting actions of locally-elected officials Rep. Nate Walker (R-003), Rep. Craig Redmon (R-004) and Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-18), this is a summary of important bills and votes from the Missouri House and Senate.

Tracking Walker

Rep. Walker co-sponsored House Bill 807, which would provide parole hearings for offenders sentenced to life without parole who are 60 years of age or older and who have no prior violent felony convictions after serving at least 15 years of the sentence. The offender would need to meet certain criteria, including not being a convicted sex offender.

Tracking Redmon

Rep. Redmon co-sponsored House Bill 818, which would make it illegal for any state agency or department, or contractor, or agent working for the state to aid the federal government in any way toward developing and maintaining a database or record of the number of firearms, ammunition, or firearms accessories that an individual possesses.

Tracking Munzlinger

Sen. Munzlinger saw his sponsored Senate Bill 41 pass the Senate, 24-10, this week. It has already been read twice in the House.

The summary reads: “Private nuisance actions based upon an air emission or water or solid waste discharge, other than the placement of nuclear waste, are specifically prohibited if the emission or discharge was expressly authorized by and not in violation of a statute or regulation; a license issued by a public body specified in the act; or a court order. However, a person may file suit based on these types of actions if the permit or order creates a condition not reasonably foreseeable at the time of issuance or if the permit holder fails to disclose certain facts.”

Introduced this week: House

HB 780: Would make it illegal for a private lender to charge an interest rate on a student loan that is double the interest rate of when the loan is initiated, and no interest rate is to exceed eight percent.

HJR 32: Introduced by Rep. Myron Neth (R-017), the bill would proposed a multi-faceted amendment to Missouri voters at the next general election. The bill proposes to reduce the number of Missouri House seats from 163 to 120 and increase the number of Missouri Senate seats from 34 to 40. Each Senate district would contain three House districts. It also establishes the “redistricting division,” which is the “nonpartisan staff of the joint committee on legislative research” that would lead the redistricting work and draw the new district lines.

HB 816: Would require every member of the Missouri House of Representatives be subject to chemical testing of their urine within 60 days of the start of each legislative session. A member testing positive for illegal drugs would be prohibited from running for elective office for two years unless a certified drug treatment program has been completed.

Introduced this week: Senate

No new legislation was introduced. Senate Rule No. 48 states no new bills, other than appropriation bills, can be introduced after March 1 unless consented to by a majority of the elected senators.

Votes of the week

HJR 4: House Joint Resolution 4 passed, 121-31. It proposes a constitutional amendment that prohibits a person from serving more than 16 years in the general assembly, split in any way between the House and Senate. Currently, term limits prohibit more than eight years of service in either legislative chamber, and a total of no more than 16 combined.

SB 164: Passed the Senate 34-0 this week and has already been read twice in the House. The bill prevents employers from requesting or requiring employees or job applicants to disclose user names or passwords for personal online accounts or services. Employers are permitted to request or require such information to access electronic devices supplied or paid for by the employer and for accounts and services provided by the employer and those used for business purposes.

SB 90: The bill would allow council members in Missouri’s third class cities - such as Kirksville - to serve four-year terms. If enacted in a city, the extended terms begin with council members elected after the term length is approved by ordinance or voters. The bill passed the Senate, 34-0, and will now move to the House.

Kirksville City Council members currently serve three-year terms.

Tracking

HB 457: Co-sponsored by Rep. Walker, the bill that would allow doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to not participate in certain specified medical procedures or research, defined as that pertaining to abortions, abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, non-medically necessary sterilization, assisted reproduction, human cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, human somatic cell nuclear transfer, fetal tissue research, and nontherapeutic fetal experimentation, if it violates his or her conscience, passed the House Rules Committee on Thursday and has been placed on the House calendar for perfection. After being perfected and printed, the bill would come to the floor for a vote. If it passes, it would be sent to the Senate.

Have a bill you’d like us to track? Contact us at dailyexpresseditor@gmail.com.